Most gas turbines comprise remote gas generating means coupled to separate turbine torque producing rotors which depend upon large mass flow through the rotors to produce power. It is common for turbines of this sort to employ several compression stages with intermediate coolers, and with final heating of the inlet air such as is shown in U.S. Pats. Nos. 3,688,494 to Mevenkamp et al, and in 2,960,825 to Sampietro et al. The present turbine is of the type having a rotor into which slurry fuel is continuously injected and burned to produce expansion of combustion products through jets in the rotor to achieve rotation thereof at high speed, for instance, in a manner somewhat as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,369 to Hall. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,988 to Kleckner, a reaction wheel type of turbine is shown which is driven by Venturi nozzles discharging the products of combustion taking place within the turbine wheel.
The disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 1,897,478 to Holzwarth shows a system in which a solid fuel is burned, the fuel being intermittently injected into the turbine combustion chamber at a regulated rate. U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,056 to Hoffman also shows injection of fuel through a nozzle at a regulated rate.
Attempts have been made to burn solid types of fuels injected in powdered form into impulse turbines, U.S. Pat. No. 1,897,478 (supra), but these systems have met with little success because of serious abrasion and erosion problems in the turbine area, and because of the excessive build-up of ash occurring as a product of the combustion of the solid fuels.